Carol for a Friend
by Brightpath2
Summary: It's the first Christmas after Brainy leaves, and Garth decides it's time to spruce things up around the HQ. With a prank! And of course the first victim- ahem, we mean, recipient- of his wonderful Christmas gift has to be Brainiac 5! Join the Legionaries as they carol to their absent friend. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there! -Cartoonverse


**Well hello! This is my yearly Christmas story! This time, a one-shot!**

**I wasn't planning on doing a Legion of Superheroes story (at least not for a while ;), but this leapt out at me, and so here it is. It has absolutely nothing to do with how I marathoned both seasons in two days of course. Nothing at all.**

**Anywho, This is set not long after Brainiac 5 leaves the Legion. I may be the only one (I don't think I am, but you know), but I think that the Legionaries, especially the older members, would be pretty sad that he left. He would have lived at HQ, so this is what I came up with.**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE OTHER THINGS! :) :) :)**

**Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the creators of the Legion of Superheroes comics, cartoon, or characters. Of course, if I was there would be that incredibly tantalizing third season instead of a few ideas sitting on the internet to torture us, but I digress.**

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><p>Christmas had always been an interesting thing for the Legion. Most of them had families that they would go home to, while some of them stayed at the Legion HQ. They always threw a Christmas party before everyone left, but then the HQ was left silent.<p>

However, this year was just a bit different.

Garth always went home, and this year would be especially nice, with Ayla home again, but as he looked around at the Legionaries who would be staying, he couldn't help but cringe.

Jacques* and Salu were sitting with Blok and Jan, looking despondent. Brin was feebly trying to start a conversation with Hart and Val, who both looked like they'd rather be anywhere else.

Nura was nowhere to be seen, probably having shut herself in her room to avoid everyone.

Chuck was sitting near the fire, trying to smile while Reep and Luorna tried to cheer him up. Lu had been invited by Reep's father to stay over for Christmas, and she'd accepted immediately. None of them wanted to be at HQ for Christmas.

Condo and Tenzil were chatting with Dawnstar and Jenni, obviously trying to stay cheerful and failing. Most of the other Legionaires had already left, with a few exceptions. Tinya was floating towards Brin, an uncertain look on her face, and as Garth turned, he saw Imra and Rokk coming towards him.

Imra hugged him. "It's times like these that I'm glad I still have my parents," she whispered.

"Yeah, I don't think I could stand being here this year," Rokk agreed distantly. He'd recently resigned from his position as Leader of the Legion, and Imra had won the following election.

It had been strange to see Rokk, out of all of them, lose his confidence after Brainy left. At the same time, Garth supposed it wasn't that surprising. Brainy had been their strategist, their scientist, and their friend, and now he was gone.

Funny how you didn't even miss someone until they weren't there anymore.

"What's that one really old Christmas song he used to hate again?" Garth asked suddenly. "That one that Clark showed him that Christmas he was here."

Imra pulled away, her eyes narrowed. "I think it had something to do with bells," she said slowly, "but I'm not completely sure either. All I know is that it drove him nuts. It was really uncomfortable to be near him when it was playing."

Garth grinned. He'd always wondered what happened when their thoughts became too strong for Imra. No wonder she'd put a stop to letting that song play.

The Telepath glared at him. "Garth, what are you planning?" she asked in a warning tone.

He ignored her and stepped forward, clearing his throat. "May I have your attention everyone?" he said cheerfully.

Everyone fell silent and turned to look at him. He could see a lot of raised eyebrows. He would willingly bet that none of them had heard an honestly cheerful voice in weeks.

"Now, we're all still trying to become accustomed to life without our absent friend," he said, ignoring the shocked looks and pained glances that people were exchanging, "but come on guys! It's Christmas! We should be having fun, and singing those weird old Christmas songs that Clarky taught us! We can carol for the Legionaries that aren't here over communicator, and have eggnog, and maybe we'll perk up. Would Brainy want us to be so down because of him? I mean, what would he be doing if he were here? It certainly wouldn't be this!"

There was a low ripple of humor that flooded through the room, and Garth continued. "Alright, maybe he wouldn't like the singing, and would be complaining about how sentimental we all are, and maybe he'd try to leave early, and Bouncy and I would have to drag him back in, but still! He'd be a lot happier than any of us are right now."

Bouncy was laughing now, and Salu's snort was erupting no matter how hard she tried not to let it show.

"I propose that the very first Legionnaire we carol for is Brainiac 5!" Garth finished finally. Immediately the room was silent.

"Garth," Imra said tentatively. "Are- are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, we don't even know how to do that in the first place. He didn't leave us a way to contact him, and he hasn't replied to any messages we've left him on his communicator. We don't even know if he has it."

Garth shrugged. "So? Since when has that stopped us from trying?"

"He has a point," Garth heard Brin mutter from across the room. The others were starting to look excited, just as he'd hoped. That was good. He didn't think he could stand it if Christmas was sad. They were already having enough trouble with missions and publicity for Holidays to become bad as well.

There was a bit of hustle and bustle as everyone got ready. There was a bit of argument over what song they were going to sing until Garth slyly pointed out the song he'd forgotten earlier, Jingle Bells. After reviewing the lyrics, and listening to it a couple of times, the others agreed enthusiastically. Garth could feel Imra's eyes on him the entire time, and when he finally turned to look at her, she was trying very hard not to laugh.

_"I know what you're doing,"_ she said in his head. _"If he were here he would hate you right now."_

Garth grinned at her. _"Ah, but he's not here, so there's nothing stopping me. Besides, this is a whole lot better than everyone moping around, don't you think?"_

She shook her head slowly, but she was smiling, and Garth just added it to his growing list of accomplishments for the day. Then he went back to directing the boisterous group of Legionaries as they argued over whose communicator would be used for the privilege of calling Brainy.

**OoO**

Querl Dox, also known as Brainiac 5, was cold.

It was a sensation he was not accustomed to feeling. His systems had overheated before, his metal casings had frozen before, but never had he actually _felt_ cold.

Of course, that made it really hard for him to know how to dress for cold weather, so he was wearing a short sleeved shirt and jeans, and shivering like nothing else. He didn't even own warm clothes yet.

He was staying in an unbelievably cheap hotel. It was broken down enough that the heating system had been all but destroyed, as he had seen when he offered to take a look at it. He'd repaired it fairly well, but it wasn't set to start up again for another 22 minutes.

He only hoped he could last that long. Even curled up underneath the moth eaten blanket, he could barely feel his feet.

20 minutes . . .

He wondered what the Legion was up to. Most likely their Christmas party was taking place, or would be soon. They always had it right around this time of year, otherwise Tinya wouldn't be able to attend. Her mother's position meant that they were invited to a lot of very important Christmas gatherings that would be politically tragic if she did not attend.

Usually by this point in the night, Querl would be attempting to leave the party, whilst being forcefully dragged back into the room by Chuck and Garth. Under normal circumstances he would be relieved not to be suffering through the Legion's party (or at least he would _tell_ himself that he was relieved), but now he wished he could be there, listening to Nura sing, and wincing when Blok joined in.

15 minutes . . .

Suddenly there was a light beeping sound, and Querl realized that he'd been drifting off into sleep. He looked around for the source of the sound, and found it sitting on the dilapidated bedside table.

His Legion flight ring and communicator.

It took a lot of willpower to force himself to pick the communicator, and he wasted four minutes just watching as it beeped.

10 minutes . . .

Finally his own voice came from the ring, as he knew it would. "You have one new message. It's urgent."

That made him stiffen. It was urgent? Had there been an attack? Was everyone alright? Almost without thinking, he pressed the button that allowed him to listen to the message.

"Hi Brainy!" a chorus of voices rang through the small hotel room. "Merry Christmas!"

"Or whatever the equivalent is on Colu," Garth added under his breath, making Querl snort. There was no equivalent.

"We're caroling!" Luornu said warmly, "and we thought we might as well hit you first. Don't worry, we made sure that Nura was here too."

He smiled at that. Nura had the best voice** of all the Legionaries, one that even he found enjoyable, although generally music and singing were not his thing.

Then it hit him. They were caroling? Oh no. This reeked of Lightning Lad.

"Ready everyone?" Garth said, and Querl held his breath in anticipation. "1, 2, 3, go!"

5 minutes . . .

"Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bobtail ring'

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to ride and sing

A sleighing song tonight!"

Querl cringed in preparation for what he deemed the worst part.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh."

"A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon, Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side,

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

He got into a drifted bank

And then we got upsot."

Then the chorus again, and Brainy found that it was possibly a little less painful to listen to than he had once believed. Maybe it was the improved recording quality.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh."

Nura had a solo for the next verse, and he couldn't help but smile.

"A day or two ago,

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow,

And on my back I fell;

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh,

He laughed as there I sprawling lie,

But quickly drove away."

Querl laughed at the open indignation in Nura's voice at the thought of any gentleman riding by and laughing at someone who'd fallen in the snow. It was obvious that she had never heard the song before.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh."

The boys sang the final verse, and Querl wasn't surprised to here the sound of the girls giggling in the background, and could only imagine the antics they were getting up to at HQ.

"Now the ground is white

Go it while you're young,

Take the girls tonight

and sing this sleighing song;

Just get a bobtailed bay

Two forty as his speed

Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! You'll take the lead."

It was the final chorus, and Querl was surprised to find himself saddened by the thought. Hearing his friend's voices had really warmed him up, and despite the annoying song, he was smiling. That was something he hadn't done since leaving the Legion.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh."

"Alright Brainy! That's all for now!" Tinya crowed. "We miss you a lot!"

"You had better be getting enough to eat, and enough sleep, and you'd also better be dressing warmly enough, or so help me Brainiac 5, I will hunt you down," Imra threatened, although Querl knew she didn't mean it really. She knew he wanted to be left alone. Besides that, there was no way for her to tell that those things weren't happening.

"Merry Christmas Brainy!" Chuck said happily. Querl could tell from the way his voice was shaking and fading in and out that he was bouncing around the room, and shook his head. It was just like Bouncy to do something like that.

"Merry Christmas!" the Legionaries chimed again, and then the message ended.

Querl Dox sat there in silence as the heater hummed to life, and for the first time since December had started, he felt like it was Christmas.

He also felt like it was time for a little bit of payback.

**OoO**

Three days later a package arrived at Legion HQ addressed to Garth, who hadn't left yet. He was surprised, but opened it as soon as he got to the main room.

He regretted it. For the next 24 hours he was followed around by little mechanical "bells" that rang whenever he was speaking to someone.

There was no doubt about who had sent them.

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><p>List of characters roughly in order of appearance<p>

Garth- Lightning Lad

Ayla(mentioned only)- Lightning Lad's twin/younger sister

Jacques- Invisible Kid*

Salu- Shrinking Violet

Blok

Jan Arrah- Element Lad

Brin- Timber Wolf

Hart- Nemesis Kid

Val- Karate Kid

Nura- Dream Girl

Chuck- Bouncing Boy/Bouncy

Luorna- Triplicate Girl

Reep- Chameleon Boy

Condo- Chemical King

Tenzil- Matter-Eater Lad

Dawnstar

Tinya- Phantom Girl

Imra- Saturn Girl

Rokk- Cosmic Boy

Jenni- XS

Querl Dox- Brainiac 5/Brainy

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><p><strong>Ah yes. So there is the method to my Christmas madness.<strong>

***I know that Lyle Norg is usually the original Invisible Kid, but I checked the LOSH wiki, and it listed Jacques in the cartoon, so I'm using him. Sorry for any inconvenience or confusion this may cause. Fun fact, it also says he stole the serum from Lyle's lab XD XD XD**

****Personal headcanon. oh well.**

**I hope you liked it, and that you all enjoy this wonderful holiday season. :)**

**REVIEW!**


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